Moscow is expecting Kiev to clarify whether the latter is going to honor Ukraine's international commitments made by the previous authorities, including the $3 billion debt to Russia, after President Poroshenko dubbed it a “bribe” to Viktor Yanukovich.

“In the first place, we are expecting some kind of
explanations on whether the current Ukrainian authorities are
planning to reject their status as a successor in terms of the
country's commitments, including international, and, primarily
for us, financial and other obligations to Russia," Kremlin
spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow.

“If we are talking about the legitimacy of power in Ukraine,
the question [on the table] is whether it is challenging the
principle of succession of Ukraine as a state: does Ukraine carry
its international obligations or does it refuse them?” he
said.

If the $3 bln loan was a bribe, as Mr Poroshenko says, then the
billions from the IMF is grand larceny https://t.co/nEVX5rmjjo

"We still don't have an answer to this question, and,
frankly, I don't know whether President Poroshenko's statement
could be considered the answer," Peskov said referring to
Poroshenko’s recent remark made to Bloomberg TV on Monday.

In the interview Poroshenko called the $3 billion Russian loan to
his country in 2013 a “bribe” to his ousted predecessor
Viktor Yanukovich. He alleged that the credit was given in
exchange for the refusal to sign the Association Agreement with
the European Union.

“That was a bribe,” Poroshenko said speaking to
Bloomberg in Kiev. “Ukraine will demonstrate responsible
behavior. This is the responsibility of the Finance Ministry and
the government.”

Following the Maidan protests that toppled Yanukovich in February
2014, the new Ukrainian authorities have been struggling with the
shrinking economy by taking international loans.

The total debt of Ukraine, according to the country’s Prime
Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk, is estimated to be at around $50
billion, of which $30 billion is external debt and $17 billion is
internal debt.

On Thursday, Ukraine’s Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko said that
Ukraine could stop repaying sovereign debts to its lenders within
weeks if no deal is struck on debt restructuring soon. She added
that creditors must make concessions, as the debts are the result
of deals made with the previous ‘dictatorship’ government.